Behind The Awkwardness: Twins
October 10th, 2011
“This is a photo of my sister and me, taken around 1991 (she is on the right, I’m on the left). I remember being incredibly grumpy that day, as I loathed getting our photos taken for three reasons:
1.) I had to sleep in uncomfortable curlers the night before, which always made for a poor night’s rest.
2.) I hated being dressed as twins, especially since my sister and I are not twins.
3.) Wearing identical “Spumoni” sweatshirts: Spumoni was a line of clothing from the late eighties that appealed to young girls with its screen-print overkill: it utilized repetitive patterns of dogs, cats, flowers, and bows–resplendently displayed as puffy white vinyl designs. While I had been fine wearing this sweatshirt two years before, donning this again at eleven did not hold the same charm as it once did, and thus walking through the mall to the Sears Portrait Studio felt like a death march. However, I am sure my mother believed that my sister and I were simply darling in our matching attire with complimenting curls, so this photo bears witness to that crappy day so long ago.
(submitted by Brenna)
Tags: 80's
This is not an awkward picture. It’s cute.
Why is this on here?
I had no idea they were even popular! Now I don’t feel so bad! I don’t remember any other girls wearing them! I had the light blue one with Teddy bears and a pink one with polar bears!
Good lord, there are some real miserable whiners out there. “Oh why are you complaining, my childhood was soo baddd wah wah wah’ Isn’t AFP all about that-just awkward moments in our life that we can laugh about and poke a bit of fun at? Maybe if people learnt to laugh a little and stopped feeling sorry for themselves the world would be a brighter place!
BTW I totally had a blue jumper with puff paint dogs all over it. Same era too. What style we had! Oh oops, don’t complain…I was given clothes to wear after all…..
-looks like someone put a rose-colored filter on the camera lens? Regarding Spumoni-type stuff…can we say holiday sweatshirts?? ack.
Boy, growing up sounded really horrible for you…being clothed and taken care of and all. I get it though, first world problems can be a b$#@h…and a bear lives in the woods
I was thinking the same thing….I was about to go through all of the crap that I went through in my childhood, but I didn’t want to add to the whining. Curlers and ugly sweatshirts would have been a nice problem to have though.
This is one day out of this woman’s life. You have no idea how great/horrible her childhood was. Is it not the point of this website to poke fun at horrible fashions of the past or whatever odd thing people are interested in? LIGHTEN UP!
^ right on! Some people are miserable because they enjoy it!
How dare children be miserable when paraded around for their parents’ amusement. How dare they.
I see TONS of these sweatshirts at thrift stores, long with acid washed Mom jeans.
ahhh! I had that same sweater!! Only with a hair bow that matched!
the puffy vinyl cats, oh I hated those! especially on the black background fabric with neon purple and green angles and bows.
I had Spumoni wear as well. Hideous clothing.
I love the story with this photo. The photo itself is just eh…
Um, If you have to explain it, it’s not awkward…
Well, you took one for the team (mom) and you made it work, hated rollers, sticky shirt and all, you put on a lovely smile and now have a charming portrait of you and your equally lovely sister about which you can cringe with awkward humiliation for years to come. And isn’t THAT what family is all about? good times.
I TOTALLY had those sweatshirts! I had a bright pink one with bows and a purple shirt with white sparkly kittens.
“Come play with us, Danny… forever and ever and ever…”
LOL good one
I had a spumoni shirt with koalas on it. Everytime I sat down in my desk at school the vinyl would rub on the seat and make “fart” noises. That was the longest day of my entire sixth grade year… no one would believe it was the koalas! lol
I remember Spumoni — and pink sponge rollers.
it looks like theyre siamese twins and share the center arm…
Im not sure what the “awkward” part is? Matching outfits, not so bad. Clothes of the era, not out of the ordinary. Smiling, normal for a portrait. I just see portrait of two sisters from 1991.
I dont know, there is an awful lot of pink for one photo. And the description of the spumoni sweatshirt helps this become more awkward!
That’s a great picture! Great story also!
IMO – If you and your sister had the same hairdo, you could have passed for twins.
Not identical twins, but twins.
Ugh I remember those sweatshirts… Plus I hated getting my picture done anyways. It was always what Mom wanted.
I totally had a sweatshirt like that but it had seals all over it. My sister had a similar one and we wore them on picture day while sitting on a nice lookin’ wicker chair. But yours is better; you are with your sister. Love it!
My Spumoni sweatshirt was purple with penguins. I loved that sweatshirt.
Mine was light blue with teddy bears & roses all over it.
Totally? Not partially?
It’s the combination of the story and the picture that makes this awkward. Like a perfect martini, the mingling of the ingredients make it so delicious. Cute? Maybe. Awkward? Oh, yes!
You certainly hid your misery well. Yes, the clothing looks a little dated now, but this is a cute photo of cute kids.
Still, thanks for sharing your story. I, too, had a few clothing items my mother loved and I hated. Most of them involved itchy lace and nylon that gave my hair static cling and made me grumpy.
Thanks for the insight into my own childhood. I remember wearing sweatshirts that exactly match your spumoni description during the 6th grade. I had tons of them and wore color coordinated turtle necks underneath. I’m so glad to hear it was a fad and not just me!
Awkward fail.
Horrible photo. Cute kids.
I’m sorry, but you and your sister actually do look darling in that shot.
Well…you are an adult now and Mom is either in or approaching her senior years. Maybe you can dress her in a overly cutesy outfit and make her go to Sears Portrait Studios. PAYBACK!
Gotta love payback! lol
This is cute and not awkward!
Awkward?
Here I thought Pepto-Bismol made me feel better…
Even with such a bad attitude, it’s a darling picture and not at all awkward.
I see Pink Lady, but where’s Jeff?
I love how she throws up in her mouth a little bit when she describes the Spumoni.
LOL!
I throw up in my mouth a little when I EAT Spumoni.